McDonald's Privacy Policy

At McDonald's Corporation ("McDonald's"), we strive to do everything we can to respect the trust customers have in our brand and our commitment to your privacy is no exception. We are committed to protecting and safeguarding the privacy of visitors to our Web sites, including mobile Web sites, ("Sites") and users of our mobile device applications ("Mobile Apps"), especially for children.

This Privacy Policy describes the types of personal information we collect from visitors to our Sites and users of our Mobile Apps (collectively, "Online Services"). The Policy also sets forth how we use this information, provides other details about our personal information practices, and explains how to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

McDonald's only gathers personal information, such as, first and last names, addresses and email addresses, when voluntarily submitted by you. For example, personal information may be collected from you in order to get your feedback on our Online Services and our products or to enter you in one of our contests or sweepstakes. You may choose not to provide the requested information, but in that event the Site or Mobile App may not function correctly or certain functions may not be available.

In addition, when you visit our Web Sites or Mobile Apps, we may collect certain information by automated means. The information we collect may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, computer/mobile device operating system and browser type, type of mobile device, the unique device identifier (UDID) or mobile equipment identifier (MEID) for your mobile device, the address of a referring web site (if any), and the pages you visit on our Web Sites. We may use this information to operate, maintain, and manage our Online Services and to provide services such as technical support. We provide additional information regarding our use of "cookies" in this Privacy Policy below.

Mobile Devices and Location Information.

Mobile Apps may collect precise information about the location of your mobile device using technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, or cell tower proximity. McDonald's uses this information for location-based services that you request such as locating nearby McDonald's restaurants or identifying special offers that may be of interest to you. For most mobile devices, you are able to withdraw your permission for McDonald's to acquire this information on your location through the device settings. If you have questions about how to disable your mobile device's location services, we recommend you contact your mobile device service provider or the device manufacturer. If you would like us to delete location information we have collected, please contact us at the email or postal address listed below. Please note that the applications may not function properly following deletion, and that we may be required by law to retain certain information.

McDonald's may share personal information within the McDonald's Family. The McDonald's Family includes McDonald's Corporation, our franchisees, our subsidiaries and our affiliates. Of course, any use of this information by the McDonald's Family will comply with this policy. Occasionally, with your permission, we will send marketing information to you, such as discount coupons, information about new product offerings, etc. If you do not elect to receive such materials, we will not send them to you.

Companies may be engaged by McDonald's to perform a variety of functions, such as, fulfilling orders, assisting with promotions, providing technical services for our Sites or Mobile Apps. These companies may have access to personal information if needed to perform such functions. However, these companies may only use such personal information for the purpose of performing that function and may not use it for any other purpose.

McDonald's does not sell, transfer or disclose personal information to third parties outside the McDonald's Family. However, with your permission, we will, on occasion send marketing information on behalf of one of our business partners about products or services they provide that may be of interest to you. You may be asked if you wish to receive marketing materials from McDonald's business partners. If you elect to receive such materials, McDonald's will not share your personal information with such partners but rather will send a mailing or e-mail on behalf of the partners.

McDonald's reserves the right to use or disclose any information as needed to satisfy any law, regulation or legal request, to protect the integrity of the Online Service, to fulfill your requests, or to cooperate in any law enforcement investigation or an investigation on a matter of public safety.

McDonald's understands the importance of privacy to visitors to and users of our Online Services. We are especially committed to protecting the privacy of children who visit or use our Online Services. This Children's Privacy Notice is designed to answer your questions regarding our practices with respect to personal information we collect through our Online Services from children under the age of 13.

What Personal Information Does McDonald's Collect?

We offer many features on our Sites, like games and coloring books, which do not require a child to provide any personal information. On occasion, however, we may collect personal information, such as an email address from children as part of an activity. For example:

We may collect a child's email address to notify the child if he or she has won or lost a contest or sweepstakes. In that event, we will notify the child using the email address the child supplies. We will not keep the address or use it for any other purpose.

We may collect a child's email address in order to respond to a request from the child on a one-time basis, such as to send the child a screen saver. In this case we promptly delete the email address from our system once we have responded, and we do not use the address for any other purpose.

We will not collect other personal information from a child under the age of 13, such as a postal address or telephone number, without the consent of a parent or guardian. If parent or guardian consent is required we will collect the email address of the parent or guardian so we can provide notice of our information practices and/or seek the parent's or guardian's consent.

McDonald's will not condition a child's participation in any online activity on the child's disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in that activity.

How Does McDonald's Use the Personal Information It Collects?

We use email addresses submitted by a child in order to respond to the child's request or to notify the child if he or she has won or lost a contest or sweepstakes they entered. We use the email address of a parent or guardian, in order to provide the parent notice of our information practices or to seek the parent's or guardian's consent.

How Does McDonald's Share Personal Information?

We may share a child's personal information with third parties to the extent reasonably necessary to protect the security or integrity of our Online Services, take precautions against liability, or respond to judicial process or requests from other governmental authorities; or when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.

We also may share personal information collected from children with vendors that perform services for McDonald's. These services may include hosting our Sites, providing technical services to McDonald's, fulfilling requests or administering sweepstakes. Such vendors are obligated to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them.

Requests from Parents Regarding Our Children's Privacy Practices

Parents may review personal information we have collected from their child that has not been deleted, and can request that the personal information be deleted from our records if it has not been already. Parents also may refuse to permit further collection or use of their child's personal information, when the parent has previously provided consent. To do so, please contact us at the address, telephone number or email address provided below with your request.

Who Should I Contact with Questions?

We urge parents to regularly monitor and supervise their children's online activities. If you have any questions about our Children's Privacy Notice, please contact us at:

You are in control of any personal information you provide to us through our Online Services. If at any time, you would like to correct the personal information we have about you or if you would like to change your preferences for contacts from us or on behalf of our business partners, you can let us know by contacting us at the email or postal address listed below.

"Cookies" are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual's hard drive for record keeping purposes. Cookies allow the website to remember important information that will make your use of the site more convenient. Like most websites, McDonald's uses cookies for a variety of purposes in order to improve your online experience. For example, we track the total number of visitors to our Sites on an anonymous aggregate basis. We may also employ cookies so that we remember you when you return to the Site, to keep track of the items in your shopping cart if you purchase merchandise online, to administer certain contests and sweepstakes and to help customize your McDonald's web experience. We may associate personal information with a cookie file in those instances.

Use the options in your web browser if you do not wish to receive a cookie or if you wish to set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. Click on the “Help” section of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. If you disable all cookies, you may not be able to take advantage of all the features of this Site.

California Business & Professions Code Section 22575(b)(as amended effective January 1, 2014) provides that California residents are entitled to know how McDonald’s responds to “Do Not Track” browser settings. McDonald’s does not currently take actions to respond to Do Not Track signals because a uniform technological standard has not yet been developed. We continue to review new technologies and may adopt a standard once one is created.

We may offer links to sites that are not operated by McDonald's Corporation. If you visit one of these linked sites, you should review their privacy and other policies. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of other companies, and any information you submit to those companies is subject to their privacy policies.

All McDonald's Online Services operated by McDonald's Corporation will adhere to this Privacy Policy. The policies of some McDonald's Sites or Mobile Apps may vary, however, because of local customs, practices or laws or due to circumstances unique to that Site. In all cases, however, Online Services operated by McDonald's Corporation will honor the commitments to our customers set forth in this Policy regarding the collection and use of personal information.

Many McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees, who are independent businessmen and women. Some franchisees also operate websites or provide mobile device applications. These web sites and apps are not operated by McDonald's and are not subject to this Privacy Policy. Please review the Privacy Policy of each site and mobile app to determine the privacy policies of that site.

This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 10, 2013. From time to time, it may be necessary for McDonald's to change this Privacy Policy. If we change our policy, we will post the revised version here, so we suggest that you check here periodically for the most up-to-date version of our Privacy Policy. Rest assured, however, that any changes will not be retroactively applied and will not alter how we handle previously collected information.